1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to retaining apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for use in releasably fastening together in substantially parallel, side-by-side relation a plurality of sections which selectively attach to one another in end-to-end relation to form a fishing rod.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A problem arises when using the conventional spinning and other comparable fishing rod as to how to store and handle the sections of the rod when the sections are in their disassembled mode. For example, fishermen who use spinning rods provided with a large top eye in the handle section of the rod generally insert the tip end of the tip, or top, section of the rod through the large eye of the handle section to hold the two sections together compactly when their rods are not assembled for fishing. The opposite ends of the fishing rods thus interengaged, however, will still flop around when not being securely retained together at the ends thereof opposite to the interengagement of eye and tip. Further, many fishing rods do not include such a large eye on the forward end of the handle section of the rod, and therefore are not even conducive to such interengaging arrangement.
Various devices have been proposed for fastening together the various sections of a fishing rod when disassembled and not in use. Examples of such known apparatus may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,113,363, issued Dec. 10, 1963 to D. J. Fyvie, 2,595,746, issued May 6, 1952 to H. R. Zinn, 3,169,290, issued Feb. 16, 1955 to H. F. Snodgrass, and 396,909, issued Jan. 29, 1889 to J. Annin. These known devices, however, are generally usable only with specially constructed fishing rods, the construction of which rods is not necessarily conventional or standard today. Further, these known devices are generally of a rather complex nature with associated high initial cost and low reliability.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,980,305, issued Apr. 18, 1961 to F. B. Reese, is also believed to be pertinent to the present invention.